Villamizar-Gomez Andrea, Guerra Trina, Sirsi Shashwat, Farr William L, Forstner Michael R J, Hahn Dittmar
Texas State University, Department of Biology, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, Texas 78666, USA.
J Wildl Dis. 2025 Jul 1;61(3):749-755. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-24-00186.
Ranaviruses (Iridoviridae) and chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium spp.) cause globally reportable diseases affecting a wide array of amphibians. Both pathogens are well documented in the US and have caused local or regional scale mortality events for susceptible amphibians. Over a period of 8 y (2012-2019), we tested salvaged amphibians collected during amphibian audio survey work across the central, southeastern, and coastal areas of Texas, US. Individuals of 7/8 anuran taxa tested positive for either or both pathogens, as did individuals in counties with large sample sizes (i.e., n>25) across taxa. Ranavirus prevalence was high in 2012 (67%) but decreased to 5% by 2019. Conversely, chytrid fungus prevalence started low in 2013 (4%) but increased to 20% by 2019. The detection of both pathogens in any individual was consistently rare throughout the period. Although salvage of specimens during annual fieldwork adds permitting requirements, handling time, and curation effort, we argue that this additional effort significantly contributes to regional pathogen surveillance. Therefore, it should be considered a standard approach for the extensive array of roadway-based herpetofaunal surveys conducted each year.
蛙病毒属（虹彩病毒科）和壶菌（蛙壶菌属）引发的疾病在全球范围内都有报告，影响着各种各样的两栖动物。这两种病原体在美国都有详细记录，并已导致易感两栖动物出现局部或区域规模的死亡事件。在8年（2012 - 2019年）的时间里，我们对在美国得克萨斯州中部、东南部和沿海地区两栖动物音频调查工作期间收集的获救两栖动物进行了检测。8种无尾目分类单元中的7种个体对其中一种或两种病原体检测呈阳性，跨分类单元样本量较大（即n>25）的县中的个体也是如此。蛙病毒属的流行率在2012年很高（67%），但到2019年降至5%。相反，壶菌的流行率在2013年开始时较低（4%），但到2019年增至20%。在此期间，在任何个体中同时检测到这两种病原体的情况一直很少见。尽管在年度野外工作期间打捞标本会增加许可要求、处理时间和管理工作，但我们认为这种额外的工作对区域病原体监测有显著贡献。因此，对于每年进行的大量基于道路的爬行动物调查而言，应将其视为一种标准方法。
